fbpx

3 Brutal Mindset Mistakes Female Entrepreneurs Make

Here are three mindset mistakes female entrepreneurs struggle with as it pertains to business ownership. It's time to get your mind right.


Rebecca Lockwood
Rebecca Lockwood | Credit: Jenny Milner Photography

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: about 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, and about 50% fail in their fifth year. In the UK, a recent study found that the number of UK business closures increased from 288,000 to 357,000 between 2016 and 2017. These are just two examples of business realities every entrepreneur will face the challenge to overcome.

Today, we have so many opportunities, and it has never been easier to start and grow a successful business – technically.

The resources we have access to are immense, and we live in an era where we can craft our dreams more easily than ever before. So why then are so many businesses still failing? And why are so many people closing up shop to abandon their hopes and dreams?

Here are three mindset mistakes female entrepreneurs (including myself) have struggled with as it pertains to business ownership.

 

1. Inflexibility

We have goals in mind and a vision of success, but we often don’t allow enough flexibility in our approach to success. As a result, we get stuck!

Speak to any successful entrepreneur and they will tell you that their business didn’t look like it does now when they first started.

Consider that, Nokia (the consumer electronics company widely known for their mobile phones) got its start by manufacturing rubber boots! Meanwhile, “In 2000, Reed Hastings, the founder of a fledgling company called Netflix, flew to Dallas to propose a partnership to Blockbuster CEO John Antioco and his team. The idea was that Netflix would run Blockbuster’s brand online and Antioco’s firm would promote Netflix in its stores. Hastings got laughed out of the room.” Blockbuster believed their brick and mortar home movie and video game rental business was solid – where are they now?

It is easy to avoid this fate by being more flexible in our approach to success. Do what it takes to achieve a version of your own life and business success!

 

2. ‘Good enough’ self-talk

We all have limiting beliefs in some form or another. The most common ones are “I am not good enough,” or “I am not worthy of X.” When we worry about what people think of us, it stops us from taking action.

Photo: Mentatdgt, Pexels
Photo: Mentatdgt, YFS Magazine

In my prior business, I had this problem. At 22, I achieved a lot of success and won business awards. Yet, internally, I didn’t believe I was worthy.

My 5-year business projection was to turn over £864,000 in sales. However, I told myself I didn’t want it because of my underlying limiting belief that I wasn’t worthy of success.

We can avoid this inner turmoil by simply asking ourselves: “What do I believe, and how will I support myself as I reach to achieve greatness?”

 

3. Peeking over the fence

Have you ever found yourself looking at what other people are doing and lost your focus in the process?

You see someone else doing something and think you should be doing that too! So you veer off your road and start doing something else. As a result, you stop mid-something and don’t complete anything.

The problem with this behavior is that you only see the front-end of their business. You have no idea if what they are doing is successful or not. This is why you need to stay in your genius zone and your lane.

Instead, keep your blinders on and focus on the things that you are good at! Stop peering over the fence at everyone else.

 

Rebecca Lockwood is a mum of two girls, best-selling author, and NLP coach and trainer who teaches female entrepreneurs the art and science of NLP. You can get a free copy of Rebecca’s book The Females Handbook: Step into your Personal Potential by visiting RebeccaLockwood.org.uk.

 

© YFS Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Copying prohibited. All material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited. Sharing of this material under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International terms, listed here, is permitted.

   

In this article